People travel for all sorts of reasons.
Some go to explore culture. Some go to experience adventure. And some go to find brides.
Yep, the mail order bride industry is alive and kicking throughout Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Southeast Asia. I’ve run into a few of these hapless bachelors in Moscow who were on week-long date trips organized through local find-a-Russian-bride agencies. They had 2-3 dates a day and a Russian translator who translated sweet nothings between the nervous participants. One day I even met a Japanese translator who translated the Russian translator’s English into Japanese for his Japanese clients (yes, that means four people attended each date).
An average of 6,000 American men find brides annually through such services. As you might imagine, there is potential for a whole slew of problems under such circumstances. Some arrangements work out, of course, but others become nightmares. Indeed, a handful of crimes have been committed against mail order brides, including the horrific Seattle murder of a 20-year-old woman from Kyrgyzstan by her 270 pound husband already on his second mail order bride.
As a result, President Bush signed the Orwellian sounding, International Marriage Broker Regulation Act on January 5th of this year. When it takes effect on March 7th, bachelors will be required to submit to a sex offender background check, a criminal record check, and answer a handful of marital related questions before bridal agencies can begin searching for their ideal spouse.
I applaud the effort, but come on, how in the world is this ever going to be regulated and enforced? And furthermore, can’t you losers find brides on your own? Get a life!